Mill Creek BBQ - Restaurant Impossible Update - Open or Closed?

In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Mill Creek BBQ in the Redlands, California.

Mill Creek BBQ is owned by Lisette and Steve Brown.

The couple opened Mill Creek Barbeque and Burgers five years ago.

While Lisette was born into the business, her husband Steve had no experience whatsoever in the restaurant business.

He worked in a plastic company prior to owning the restaurant.

The restaurant did great at the first but began to decline after its first year.

The couple are helped in the restaurant by their 21-year-old daughter, Brooke.

The stress of the failing business has impacted the Brown family and Lisette and her daughter fight a lot.

Lisette and Steve cannot afford the failure of the restaurant as they have no backup plan.

Robert arrives at the restaurant and isn’t impressed with the layout of the place.

The restaurant has a coral type design that sends people to boards where food menus are written.

They order their food, get their own beverages and wait for their food.

Robert meets with Lisette and Steve, and asks them about the restaurant.

Lisette reveals that she started working at her dad’s restaurant as a hostess at 16, then eventually managed his other restaurant.

The idea behind owning a restaurant was because Lisette’s dad was successful at the business so the couple decided to open their own.

They started the business with a loan of $350,000.

The business is still in debt of $200,000 and the couple have also borrowed money from friends and family to keep the business afloat.

Robert arrives to observe a dinner service.

He speaks with a few customers and they think the menu is too busy and there are too many items to choose from.

Steve hasn’t asked the cook to work who makes the bread.

He claims that that is normal as he gets overwhelmed with the business as he doesn’t know what he is doing.

The customers aren’t impressed with the food.

Some of the dishes are cold, some are overcooked and some are greasy.

Robert notices Brooke acting weird.

He calls her up on it and tells her to respect her mom as her employer or stop working in the restaurant.

Robert calls Brooke and Lisette aside to discuss what’s going on.

Lisette tearfully states that Brooke acts arrogantly at work and Brooke says that she doesn’t feel respected at work.

Robert tells the mother and daughter to fix their relationship and that it has to be fixed in order for the restaurant to be successful.

Robert wants to taste the food and orders from the menu.

The food is mostly disappointing, except for the burger.

The barbeque sauce tastes like burnt brown sugar and the chicken is way overcooked and has no seasoning.

The triple treat platter is tasteless and the double baked potato was cold and tasted stale.

Steve is unhappy with the reviews of the food as he had expected Robert to like the foods.

Robert thinks that Steve has a lackluster attitude at work.

He tells Steve to be excited and exude some passion and positivity about what he does.

Robert meets with his designer Cheryl to discuss plans for the restaurant.

The staff help to empty the restaurant ready for the design team to be able to get to work.

Robert tasks them with creating a new exit to the restaurant.

They tell him that it is impossible so he takes a sledge hammer and breaks a pane of glass.

Robert meets with Brooke and Lisette outside.

Brooke has decided to express herself better instead of yelling at her mom.

Robert advises Lisette to spend more time with her daughter and family as it’s important.

Robert calls the staff outside to discuss how the poor management has been effecting their performance.

They complain that Lisette isn’t appreciative of all that they do.

Busser Joseph claims that the way he was trained was different from what he actually experiences when working with the other staff.

The difference in the way that they work is confusing for him.

Robert checks in with the design team.

He sees that the work is progressing steadily and is also happy to see that the exit that seemed impossible to create is finally made.

The next day, Robert takes Steve to a radio station to talk about the restaurant and the transformation that is happening.

The radio decides to help with the project by inviting some of its listeners to sample the restaurant’s food.

Robert has to go back to the restaurant to teach Steve how to make a delicious barbeque.

The new dishes taught to Edward and Steve are outstanding and they agree that they are full of flavour.

Robert meets with Steve and Lisette to discuss their financial management.

He showed them how they’ve wasted $11,000 in the past.

Steve is sad and overwhelmed as he feels he is the reason for the failure of the business.

Robert talks to him while they go out for a little walk.

He encourages Steve to believe in himself and be passionate.

On arriving back at the restaurant, Robert gets in an argument with Cheryl and Tom.

He doesn’t like the designs that they have put in place at the moment.

He insists that they change them as soon as possible.

The staff of Mill creek head out to the radio station, where about 100 listeners are ready to taste their barbeque.

The people love the food and those who haven’t been to the Mill Creek say that they’ll definitely visit the restaurant.

The designers have finished with the transformation of the restaurant.

They are ready to introduce the restaurant to the owners.

Steve and Lisette were amazed by how beautiful their restaurant looks.

They couldn’t contain their joy at what they have seen.

They were both happy and grateful for their new restaurant.

On relaunch, the new Mill Creek Barbeque opens.

The customers are excited and love the new look of the restaurant.

The restaurant is fully booked and they have never seen so many customers.

The customers are impressed with the service and the food that they are serving.

Steve is very happy and feels like the restaurant has been turned around.

What Happened Next at Mill Creek BBQ?

A few months later, business is up 28%.

He is pleased with the changes that Robert made during the show.

The menu is now a mix of Robert's dishes and some of their customer favourites.

Brooke and Lisette still have their moments but are working on it.

They sold the restaurant to new owners.

Mill Creek BBQ is open.

Reviews are mostly positive.

There are some negative reviews on service and certain food items

Mill Creek BBQ was Restaurant Impossible season 8 episode 1 and aired on 5th March 2014.

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